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Rod Brown
During Saturdays wintry encounter at the DCS Stadium, we asked The Gaffer who he felt would be the major threats in the MFA after Barwell.
‘There’s no doubt in my mind that Barwell will win the league, as it would be unprecedented for a
team to wobble after being so far ahead. It’s now all about second place. Of all the teams we’ve played, Coalville when they beat us here (DCS Stadium), were the best balanced team in terms of strength and ability, not dissimilar to ourselves in that respect. I don’t want to sound arrogant but I don’t fear any other others, although I do have a lot of respect for Cov Sphinx who play good football and Tipton and it’s these teams that I think will battle it out for the second spot’.
Asked whether the ability to train on the 3G was a major advantage.
Rod said, ‘The two games that we played when most others didn’t, has given us a bit of an advantage, as we have been able to maintain some momentum, even though we did have to scrap out the results. Being able to train now will only be an advantage if others aren’t training.
But in terms of the playing strength does the Gaffer have the right mix?
‘It no secret, that I need three more players. Yes I definitely need a different type of striker than what we have. I like young Jay who has showed a lot of potential but I also need a striker with more experience in front of goal and knows where the back of the net is. I also need two wing backs – left and right. I think we’re OK elsewhere.
Rod was also able to confirm that Barry Woolley and Leon Kelly will be back training next week. Leon is still waiting for an operation but they have agreed to give it another go.
We then asked Rod what he felt was the key to the recent run of results?
‘The key to our recent success is that we have been together longer – that might sound obvious but it has been clear to see in the last few games when we haven’t played well that we’ve pulled together and battled well. I always said that we would be stronger in the second half of the season.
We have a period coming up between 13th February and 20th March where we play the top five sides back to back – Barwell, Westfields, Coalville, Alvechurch and Tipon. Three wins and a draw from that lot and I’d be happy.
We have secured third place now and have a cushion from the chasing pack, as we’ve been able to play when others haven’t but our primary objective is to improve on the first half of the season and to make some progress against the other top sides.
Rod didn’t need prompting on the dates and the running order of the big games coming up in February and March, as he clearly has these games as a major focus.
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